Antibacterial Products – Give me The Germs, the Whole Germs, and Nothing but the Germs!
In America alone, the sale of antibacterial chemicals used in antibacterial products is expected to exceed $930 million by the end of 2009. Americans it seems, are obsessed with cleanliness.
It is written in the Bible that cleanliness is next to Godliness. With the sale of these products expounding by leaps and bounds every year, people must be getting incredibly close! Last year, American’s spend $7.3 billion on cleaning products and $2.4 billion on antibacterial soaps alone. Feeling a bit cleaner now?
Now, give me your clean hands, your very clean hands, and nothing but clean hands! If you know how to clean your hands, please give me a show me of clean hands!
While in 1993, there were only a few dozen antibacterial products on the market. Today there are more than 9,000 antibacterial products, with 2,793 new products that were introduced in 2007 alone.
That seems to be a bit off however, if you take into consideration that in 2005, an FDA advisory panel concluded that antibacterial products were no better at preventing infection than regular soaps. Looks like the one time the FDA hit the nail on the head, that no one got the message, including the consumer! Guess the manufacturing industry didn’t get that email either!
And so, the controversy continues. In the meantime, until all this gets straightened out, here are a few facts about antibacterial products that might raise a few eyebrows! I sure thought they were interesting as all get out!
The Truth About Antibacterial Products
The FDA has yet to rule on whether or not antibacterial products contribute to antibacterial resistance. (Guess the panel was pretty confused about their findings!)
Triclosan, which is the active, antibiotic-like ingredient in many antimicrobial soaps, has been detected in 58% of US waterways, and also in breast milk.
A 2007 study found that adults who used household cleaning sprays, regularly have 30-50% more chances of developing asthma.
One third of all Americans say they should wash their hands more often!
8% of all Americans flush toilets with their feet and 14% do not flush at all! (Ok, I’m in the 8% that uses their feet. My mom actually taught me how to do this!)
In 2006, a prisoner in a Maryland prison, started acting ‘crazy’, ‘red-eyed’, and ‘combative’ after swigging a drink from a large container of 120 proof Purell.
Poison control centers counted 9600 kids under the age of 6, who had ingested ethanol based hand sanitizer in 2006, which was a 24% increase over 2005.
Double dipping a chip transfers 10,000 bacteria to the dip. (Better guard the dip at your next holiday party!)
Forget the ‘5 second rule’ for food dropped on the floor. Any food dropped can pick up Salmonella bacteria in less than 5 seconds.
A dermatologist told the NY Times, that dirty exercise mats may have caused an upswing in skin infections among women who practice yoga in spas and healthclubs.
Pediatricians prescribe antibiotics to more than 50% of the kids who complain of having a sore throat.
Penicillin resistant microbes first appeared 4 years after the drug was released. Until the mid 50’s, penicillin was sold over-the-counter.
MERSA (Staphylococcus Aureus) infects nearly 95,000 Americans annually and kills more than 18,500 per year.
85% of MERSA infections are linked to health care facilities only.
Nearly all Americans claim to wash their hands after using the restroom, but researchers inject that 12% of women and 34% of men, do not.
Less than 50% of all health care workers wash their hands regularly, while on the job! (Shocking!)
Test samples on NY doctors showed staph infections on 1/3 of them.
The Soap and Detergent Association (Who knew this one even existed?) claims that 44% of all people wash their hands after handling money! (You got that right!)
The Lancet reports that Americans doctors prescribed antibiotics for 80% of patients who complain of sinus infections, which are caused by the cold virus and does not require them.
After the 2001 anthrax scare, more than 4% of Americans said they obtained prescription antibiotics.
Australian doctors have treated kids eczema by giving them 'dirt pills', which contain the good bacteria. (Can you say probiotics?)
A Catholic diocese in 2004, warned church goers to not shake hands after the service during flu season.
In 1974, 2% of all staph infections were resistant to antibiotics. Today more than 60% are.
Antibacterial Products Influence on the Stars
Donald Trump said that he would never run for president because he would have to shake too many hands.
Star Magazine claims that Gwyneth Paltrow brings her own hairbrush to the Salon and never uses public restrooms. The actress denies her obsession with antibacterial products and claims she is not a germophobe.
Howey Mandel struggles with a form of mysophobia, which is the fear of germs. He said 'I'm out here. I'm functioning and I'm actually OK. It's pretty cool, because I know there are a lot of people who suffer from it, and they're not. My heart goes out to anybody who's not and isn't functioning.'
A California biotech company sells hypoallergenic kittens starting at $7,950.
The nephew of Vidal Sassoon has invented a gadget that sprays doorknobs with disinfectant every 15 minutes.
Sean 'Diddy' Combs requires concert promoters to provide him with 20 bars of (preferably) Lever 2000 Antibacterial Soap and other antibacterial products.
Charles 'Dr. Germ' Gerba, America’s most cited germ expert, gave his son the middle name 'Escherichia', which is the 'E' in E. coli bacteria.
